Thank you

 I heard an interview on the BBC with Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who had been arrested and eventually traded back to the United States by Russia and has just released a new book of the experience. He mentions how writing the book had augmented his other forms of therapy. I can relate.

I started this blog a number of months before I was hit by a car, when it was my intention to demonstrate the viability of living without a motor vehicle by racing bikes again, without one. Of course, I completed only two races before I was sidelined by a car that didn't leave me enough room on the side of the road. I was then left for dead.

I get it. The threat of law enforcement can be scary, and we, as a species evolved with a fight or flight response to threats. The driver was scared and left, and having made that choice, they couldn't later take it back. Well, I survived, and I'll happily take that in trade over the punishment of some person who made a couple very human mistakes: 1. Hitting me, and 2. Leaving.

I understand, and that helps, but I still don't expect a day when I'm not at least once aware it happened. It is a part of me. I don't think it defines me, but it is the single most impactful event of my life and I won't be shocked if I spend the rest of that life dealing with it, at least a little, here and there. Part of that is writing this blog, demonstrating there is a possible happy life without car ownership, and continuing the privilege of living as a person who isn't perfect, but I rather like being.

So thank you, and thank you again for reading this. Knowing I'm sharing with someone helps the writing serve further as a form of therapy. We also evolved as social creatures. A few of you have even admitted to reading this blog, and it's nice to know a few names and faces included in the "views" tally on the Blogger dashboard, so if you're reading this, let me know. I'll thank you again in person, or message, or smoke signal.